


V Formation

by orphan_account



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Album)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-18
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-15 17:59:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7232917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Kobra Kid and Party Poison, brand new, shiny killjoys, managed to get into a fight. Due to some bad injuries, they meet a few faces that may or may not become their new family out in the Zones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bruises

Kobra and Party were stumbling through the desert, the both of them in rugged shape after the fight. Party had known that those guys were lying to them, but Kobra didn’t wanna believe his brother. He was also always ready for a fight, but maybe not one where he got beaten up so badly. He could feel Party giving him nervous looks. He just wanted to find some place to lie down for a bit, sleep off the fight, and take off his binder, which was digging into his ribs right now. They walked around for a good hour and a half when the really concerning stuff happened. Party coughed, then made a disgusted noise.

“Fuckin’ really?” He muttered, causing Kobra to look over. One gloved hand, spattered with blood, caught his eye.

“Shit, dude, what happened?” He asked, eyes widening. Party hadn’t looked that bad after the fight, he was expecting himself to be the one coughing up blood.

“I don’t...kn...know,” his brother responded between coughs that brought more up. He started to trip, but Kobra was quick to catch him.

“Woah, okay, let’s see if we can get you help.” He scanned their surroundings. Most of it was pretty empty and beaten down. He wasn’t sure what Zone they were in at this point. He didn’t know anyone around here--neither of them did. They just ran out of Battery City a few weeks ago, earning their names quickly due to more than a few fights. Kobra spotted someone who looked friendly enough not too far away and steered his brother towards them, whoever they were.

“Kobra, what the hell are...you...doing,” Party choked out.

“Hang on and shut up.” They made their way over to the building and the other person. Kobra tapped on their shoulder when the two of them got close enough. The other person turned around. They were a little bit taller than Kobra, didn’t look too much younger either. They had short brown hair that curled just under their blue, blue eyes and was poorly gelled back. Party conveniently coughed right then, making their eyes widen.

“Holy shit, you okay?” Patry tried to open his mouth, but Kobra beat him to it.

“We got in a fight and, um, we need some help.” The other person nodded immediately.

“Yeah, come inside, Dr. Death-Defying must have something that can help.” _Dr. Death-Defying?_ Kobra thought, mindlessly following the other person. _The hell kind of world did I just run into?_ Party coughed again, getting blood on Kobra’s face.

“Thanks so much man for that,” he said, trying to make a joke out of a shitty situation. He got his brother to weakly laugh.

“Just one of the many services we...offer he...here at Party Poiso...Poison Enterprises.”

“Okay, stop talking you’re not helping yourself any.” The other person fell back a bit and started up conversation.

“So where’d you guys come from?” Kobra looked at Party, who shrugged.

“Zone four? Zone five? Honestly, I have no idea. We’re kind of sort of really new around here.” They nodded.

“Well, you came to the right place. Welcome to Zone six, home of Dr. Death-Defying, a good man and DJ to the Killjoys.”

“The Killjoys?”

“Yeah, that’s what we are. That’s what you are, if I can assume anything off of the two of you.” They looked down at Kobra and Party’s clothing. It was what they could find at the time; Kobra had pulled a bright yellow shirt with tiger stripes on it and a red leather jacket that could use some help, Party favored a blue one that could also use some help and a black t shirt. He also had decided to dye his hair bright red from it’s original color. Kobra had to admit, it looked pretty good. Almost made him want to do something to his dark mop, but he had no idea what that was yet.

“I don’t know, I guess I never really thought that we were--”

“One of us? Yeah, it takes a bit if you haven’t been out here long to get used to the idea that even with all the assholes around, we’re kind of like a giant family.” The three of them took a sharp turn into what looked like a studio. “I’m Cherri Cola, though most people just call me--”

“Cola, where you been? And who are these, um, people?” Another person with black hair that came down to their shoulders. They were dressed in an interestingly put together black and yellow vest/jacket thing. Party had coughed right on the um.

“Dr. D had some stuff for me to take care of at Tommy Chow Mein’s. Um, and this is…” Cherri Cola’s voice trailed off, making Kobra realize that he hadn’t introduced himself or his brother.

“Oh, um, I’m Kobra Kid, and this is my older brother, Party Poison.” Cherri Cola looked at him.

“You guys already have names? I thought you were new.” Kobra shrugged.

“A few fights can get you places. Speaking of which…”

“Right, right! Sorry, uh, Ghoul, have you seen Dr. D?” The other person, Ghoul, shrugged.

“I think he’s in the booth finishing up his show.”

“Great, okay, uh, come this way and we’ll see what he can do.” They weaved through a few things and Cherri Cola stopped in front of a semi glass room, knocking on the wall. Inside, a guy with equally long black hair as the Ghoul held up a finger, said a few words into the mic inside, pulled their headphones off, and stood up. The door opened and they stepped out. To Kobra, they looked really intimidating. And based on the way Party was clinging to him, he felt the same.

“Cola, what’s going on? And who are these crash queens you got here?” Kobra had to restrain himself from being pissed off about being called a queen, but then he took into the fact that he had short hair, a binder, and his brother, who was always male, was being called the same thing.

“Dr. D, this is Kobra Kid and Party Poison, and they got into a fight and need a little medical attention.” Dr. D, who Kobra decided was Dr. Death-Defying, that DJ Cherri Cola was talking about earlier, crossed his arms and looked him and his brother up and down.

“Okay, let’s see what we can do for you kids.” He took the three of them back somewhere else (for such a tiny looking building, the inside was huge). There, he pulled out a bucket and opened it. It appeared to be full of medical supplies. “Son, can you see where Jet Star ran off to? I need him to do a few things for me.” Cherri Cola nodded.

“Yeah sure, Ghoul probably knows.” They ran off. Or he, because they didn’t seem to take offense to being called son. But Kobra didn’t want to assume anything. He already knew how much had been assumed about himself.

“Alright, let’s take a look here. Which one of you is in worse condition? We’ve only got so many supplies.” Party raised the bloodstained hand. That was enough to convince Dr. D. He patted the stool next to him and Party walked over to it, settling down carefully. “Sorry, but you gotta take the shirt off.”

“No problem sir.” Dr. D laughed.

“No need to call me sir, around here I’m just Dr. D.” Party did as he was told, stripping off his shirt and jacket. There was a nasty bruise around his gut, large and purpley against his pale skin. When Dr. D touched it, he winced and coughed, bringing a little bit of blood up with it. Dr. D sighed and shook his head. “Looks like you’re gonna have to wait it out kid.” Party nodded but looked really defeated. “I’m not gonna let you go back out there, you’ll get ghosted for sure.”

“Ghosted?” Party inquired.

“Shot down by BL/I. And you’re just a kid, I’d feel responsible. So until you’re healed, no more Zone-Hopping.” He turned to Kobra. “You’re turn.” Kobra made his way from the wall to the stool. “Shirt off.” He looked at Party nervously, who just motioned for him to do it. He shed his jacket, dropping it to the floor next to him. He then pulled his shirt over his head, exposing his binder. He looked down at his feet. Dr. D didn’t say anything for a bit.

“Hate to break it to ya kid, but you gotta take that off too. I’ll let you put it back on right after as long as you don’t have broken ribs or something.” Kobra looked up at the man and did as he was told. He didn’t seem to care. Kobra figured that most people wouldn’t, but it was still a creeping fear left behind from his past. Dr. D felt around his ribs, which did really hurt, but that might have been from his cheap, horrible binder. “Well, they don’t appear to be broken, but take it easy.” The cut on his arm got bandaged up as well. Then, just as Kobra was about to get off the stool and go back out to find Cherri Cola, Dr. D stopped him. “I think I have something that might interest you. I could be wrong, but I’d like to offer it.”

“Oh?” Kobra raised an eyebrow. Dr. D shuffled off for a second and came back with a pill bottle.

“The best part about Zone six is we’ve got some of this.” He handed the bottle to Kobra, who read the label and had to take a double take.

“Testosterone?”

“Like I said, I could be wrong, but I recognize a binder when I see one. I don’t want to assume that you are--”

“Thank you. I don’t think you realize how much this means to me.” He could’ve hugged the man. Dr. D just smiled at him.

“It’s yours. There should be enough in there to last you until the next supply comes in.” Kobra put all his things back on, including his slightly painful binder, and he and Party went back out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand that's it for now!! I have a few more chapters in this, I don't plan on it being super long, like three/four I'm thinking. It's gonna be cute, there's gonna be some relationships, and I'm planning on it just being a lot of fun. If you wanna look at a timeline, this takes place right before the Helium Wars.  
> Keep being awesome, cool humans!


	2. Comics

Outside, Kobra immediately spotted Cherri Cola and that Ghoul kid, along with someone he’d never seen before. He tugged on Party’s sleeve.

“Hmm?”

“We should go over there,” Kobra said, pointing over to the group under the . Party nodded.

“Okay.” They walked over. Kobra took a chance to look around where they were, since earlier he really hadn’t. It was almost like a little town, if towns were spread apart a little more than a bit. There was the building they were in, which had a little sign on the door that said ‘WKIL 109 FMX’ on it. He remembered that Cherri Cola had said something about a DJ? Must have been a radio station. There was something that looked like it was once a 50s style diner, but the place was so run down. Everything was out here. There were a few other buildings here and there, but it was pretty empty otherwise.

“Hey, how’d it go?” Cherri Cola asked when they approached.

“Well, we’re stuck here and very bruised,” Party said, looking like he was forcing down a cough.

“I would say that sucks, but I’m kind of glad you’re stuck here. We don’t see a whole lot of people our age out here.” Kobra nodded.

“You gonna introduce your friends here Cola?” The new person said. Cherri Cola snapped out of it.

“Oh yeah, um,” they said, gesturing around. “Jet Star, Fun Ghoul, this is Kobra Kid and Party Poison.” Slightly awkward, partially mumbled greetings were exchanged. Fun Ghoul asked Party a question and the next thing they were in a full conversation like the rest of the world didn’t exist. Jet Star kept looking around, like he was expecting something or someone. Kobra nudged Cherri Cola with his elbow. “What’s up?”

“Um, not to make this awkward, but, pronouns? I don’t want to offend someone.” Cherri Cola shook his head.

“Not awkward at all. I take he, Jet takes he, Ghoul goes with whatever you want to use but most of us just use he for him, and if Show Pony _ever_ shows up, use they.” Kobra nodded. “The two of you are--”

“Both he.”

“Okay.” There was some silence. “Any sight of them Jet?”

“Nope, I haven’t seen them.”

“Well shit.”

“Chill, they’ll be here.” More silence.

“So what is this place exactly?” Kobra asked.

“Exactly? Zone six, full of more people than you’d realize, pirate radio station run by Dr. D, frequently holds Tommy Chow Mein’s shop, and that’s about it. Though you know as well as I that each Zone has it’s charm and they all work together,” Cola responded. He nodded.

“Do you have comic books around here?”

“Comic books?”

“Yeah. You know, like Superman and Wonderwoman and stuff?” Cola bit his lip. That struck Kobra in a strange, slightly unfamiliar way.

“I’m not supposed to tell you about this, but Dr. D has this secret collection of comics hidden in the studio. I know where they are, too.” He turned to Jet Star.

“Hey, we’re gonna go back in the studio, if Show Pony ever graces us with their presence, you know where to find us.” Jet Star nodded. The other two boys went back inside.

“Holy shit,” was all Kobra had to say when Cola pointed out the collection. It was up on the top shelves, and it was just stacks and stacks and stacks of comics. DC, Marvel, you name it, it was right there, probably. It was like all his childhood dreams had come true. Back when his dad was still alive and he and his brother still lived in Battery City, his dad would pull out old comics he’d hidden from the world and shared them with his children. It wasn’t like they could really “play” in the city, and their father led them in their skepticism of BL/I and everything that was going on. Their father’s death had definitely pushed them out of the city. But Kobra had wished he could have kept all the old comic books. This was amazing though.

“Yeah. Do you have any favorites?”

“Hmm, I used to read a lot of Hellboy, I remember liking that.”

“I bet there’s some up there.”

“Yeah, but how to get to it? I’m not particularly tall, nor are you.” Cola shrugged.

“I don’t know man.” Kobra looked around the room for anything they could use as a step or something. There was no such luck. “Well, we could climb on the counter,” Cola started.

“But what from there? We can’t reach that high, even from the counter.” He eyed Kobra up and down.

“You could climb onto my back, you’re small enough.” Kobra looked between his new friend and the comic books. Did he really need them that badly?

“Fuck it, let’s do it.” Cola started to climb on the counter. “However, if either of us dies, I’m blaming you.”

“Noted, now get up here.” Kobra rolled his eyes and did so.

It was a process. There were more than a few fails, and Kobra was convinced he had some new bruises. Just when their success was close, they got interrupted, of course.

“Hey Cola,” Fun Ghoul said, entering the area. Cola turned his head which made him shift his weight just right, and the two of them both fell off the counter. Ghoul looked at the two of them on the floor. “What the hell just happened?” They looked at each other before laughing.

“Honestly, you don’t wanna know,” Cola said. Ghoul shrugged it off.

“Okay, um, Show Pony’s here.” Cola stood up and held a hand out to Kobra, who took it gladly. He felt sorer than he did earlier. Not the smartest thing to do with bruised ribs. The three took off back to the outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a really short one, oops! I have the ending written (I know, I know) but this might be a little longer than expected, but the chapters probably won't be too long, so it should work out in the end.  
> Keep being awesome cool humans!


	3. Trans Am

_**a few weeks later** _

“I cannot believe you,” Show Pony said, looking down at the old car. They threw their hands up. “You’re all crazy.”

“Nah man, see, it’s gonna be Jet, Party, and me and we’re gonna make this thing totally decked out.” Pony just shook his head at Ghoul. As far as Kobra could gather, they never really understood most of Ghoul’s decisions.

“What do you think, Kobra?” Party asked. Ghoul whipped his head around and gave him the puppy-dog eyes. Kobra shrugged.

“I mean, whatever you think’s gonna work I guess. We need something, doing runs for D or Chow Mein is impossible by foot, and dangerous. This at least gives us a get away if we need it.” When in doubt, use logic and hope for the best. Was this car in great shape? Oh hell no. But, Ghoul was good at this kind of thing, and Party and Jet knew enough. Show Pony stared at him in disbelief.

“I thought you had more sense than that.”

“Then what do you suggest we use?” Ghoul asked irritatedly. “If you haven’t noticed, there isn’t a hell of a lot out here. And not everyone can skate around like you do.” Pony opened their mouth and then shut it, looking down at their skates.

“I fucking hate you sometimes.” Ghoul smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These updates are slowly getting shorter...that isn't intentional I promise.  
> So since it's summer and I'm not really doing anything, it's probably pretty likely I'm gonna be updating this daily/every other day. Though I am working on some other stuff at the same time (which will be up if you read other things besides Killjoy fics), so we'll see how long this takes!  
> Keep being awesome cool humans!


	4. Binders

“Hey Kobra, can you come help me with something?” Kobra stopped in front of the doorway to the bathroom to see Show Pony poking their head out. It’d been a couple days since Ghoul brought back the Trans Am (that’s what they’d named it, Jet’s idea). “It’s kind of important and you’d probably be the best person to ask.” Kobra nodded and pulled his hands out of his pocket, entering the bathroom.

“Sure, what can I do for you?” Pony reached behind him and shut the door. That was when he noticed his friend wasn’t wearing a shirt.

“I, um, I know you wear a binder, and mine’s fighting with me today, I was wondering if you could help me maybe?” He nodded immediately.

“Of course.” Pony made small talk while this happened, which was good because it made the situation less awkward. They started telling him about Jet Star. Apparently they were dating, and Kobra had no idea. But he noticed how their voice changed when they talked about their boyfriend, and it made him smile.

“Like, he’s taller than me, but it’s not a weird taller, ya feel? Like I don’t feel weird trying to kiss him because he’s too tall, because he’s not. It’s actually really nice, since the last person I was dating was too tall and it was the worst experience in my life. The struggle of being short.”

“Yeah, I feel that struggle,” Kobra laughed. “You really like him, don’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah I do.” Pony turned around when he finished, grabbing their shirt and pulling it over their head. “What about you and Cola? The two of you spend an awful lot of time together.” They weren’t wrong, Cola and Kobra had kind of attached themselves to each other. There was a lot of comic book reading. He’d even shaved the sides of Kobra’s head (apparently he could do that, and very well too).

“I guess I’ve never really thought about it. I’m kind of glad to have someone who likes me besides my dad and my brother, but my dad’s dead and my brother’s my brother, he’s kind of stuck with me.”

“We all like you, but I’ve known Cola for years, and he looks at you in a way I’ve never seen him look at anyone.” Kobra felt his heart flutter a little in his chest.

“Really?”

“Really. But I wouldn’t say anything until he’s at least talked to me, because otherwise you might scare him off for good.”

“Why?”

“He likes to reject the idea that he has feelings. He’s the forever stoic Cherri Cola.” That made him laugh. “Thanks for the help.”

“Any time.” Kobra walked out of that bathroom with a new thought in his head, one that was far happier than most of the ones he had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided that I have no life because I keep writing these back to back to back.  
> Keep being awesome cool humans!


	5. Bleach

Party came back with a bottle of bleach in one hand and a towel in the other.

“You’re sure about this, little brother?”

“Yup. I wanna bleach it. I can’t stand looking at this dirty dust rag on my head. I need something different...something that feels more like Kobra Kid, like me, not like…” The two of them met eyes. Kobra didn’t have to say it, he could tell his brother got it. Party nodded and went right to work. He’d tuned the radio to be playing D’s station, which currently had Cherri Cola’s show on. D had pushed him up, which had made him super excited. Of course, it meant that he wasn’t around all the time, but Kobra had other friends and things he was working on too.

An hour later, it was all done. Kobra looked in the mirror and smiled. He did really like it. The sides of his head were still dark, but it looked cool.

“Well? Feel like the Kobra Kid now?”

“Yeah, yeah I do. Thank you so much.”

“No problem. Cola’s show should be finishing up soon, wanna go show it off?” Kobra nodded. They walked out of the abandoned diner, where they were currently living. There wasn’t enough space in the studio, so Jet, Ghoul, Party, and Kobra moved over here, which truly was empty. Now it inhabited four “crazy” teenagers. Actually, sleeping there made them closer. Kobra felt like he had three brothers instead of one.

The sun hurt his eyes. It was brighter than usual, hotter than usual, and just overall not fun to be outside. He’d lost track of the date, not like there was really a date to keep track of, but he could only assume that the season was shifting into summer. He and Party had been here for a long time. They could’ve probably left a long time ago, but neither of them wanted to. They’d found a home, pretty much. That was way better than starting fights and wandering around. Kobra voiced his inner thought to Party.

“You know, we could have left by now. You’re healed, I’m healed, D couldn’t hold us here against anything.” Party made a series of interesting faces.

“You’re right,” he said, giving his little brother a side eye. “What made you think of this? Do you want to go?”

“Oh, god no,” he responded, shaking his head. “It was just a thought, that we could have left.” Party nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I’m glad that we forgot to, in all honesty.”

“So am I.” He pulled the door to the studio open, and Kobra stepped inside. Party let the door slam shut behind them. Cola was talking to someone, probably D, in another room. They couldn’t tell what was being said, but they could hear his voice. The two of them emerged a few minutes later.

“Hey, nice hair, kid,” D said, grabbing his jacket that was hanging behind Kobra.

“Thanks.”

“Okay, you,” he pointed at Cola, “I’ll be back in a few days, so you’re gonna have to meet with Mad Gear and Missile Kid without me. I wish that Chow Mein would’ve held off, but he wouldn’t hear it from me.” Kobra held back a laugh. Of all the things that Tommy Chow Mein was, “cooperative”, “patient”, and “flexible” were not any of them.

“Alright. Later, Dr. D.”

“See you soon.” And he was gone. Cola turned to the brothers.

“I like the hair, Kobra, did you burn your scalp off doing it?” Party made an annoyed noise and gave Cola an offended look.

“Nah, I let Party burn it off instead.” That look went from one boy to the other. “I’m kidding, god.” He turned back to Cola. “So, D’s trusting you with the studio, huh?”

“Yeah, apparently Chow Mein had wanted to see him earlier this week and was a little pissed when he got Jet and Ghoul.”

“Maybe if he didn’t make everything he said so cryptic there wouldn’t be an issue,” Party said bitterly.

“Like D’s any better,” Kobra countered him. He shrugged. “So are the other two coming back or?”

“They left after Chow Mein explained it to them and gave them the supply. They met Pony half way and should be back soon.”

“What did he want?” Cola shook his head.

“Didn’t say. Though now I’m stuck dealing with Mad Gear and Missile Kid, which is kind of like voluntarily setting yourself on fire.” They laughed. There had been a few stories passed around about them. They sounded like interesting people, they were musicians that played punk shows around the Zones. They were also known for being giant idiots with some strange mannerisms, but that’s what made them, well, them.

“Good luck to you.”

“Thanks.” There was a car honk from outside and Kobra turned back and looked out to see the Trans Am (which was now in full working condition) pulling up in front of the diner.

“It’s them,” he said over his shoulder and took off for the car. His testosterone refill was in there and he ran out yesterday, so he wanted some. Other people showed up, knowing that supplies were supposed to come in today, people that Kobra didn’t know, had never met, and wasn’t too sure of. Though there was this one person with long, two-toned hair who kept looking over at him. It flipped him out a little bit.

“Oh, so you’re a blondie now?” Jet asked him when he approached.

“Yeah, you got my stuff?” Jet nodded and reached behind himself, handing him the bottle. “Thanks.”

“Is Pony around?”

“No, they took off earlier for Zone one and I’m not sure when they’ll be back.” Jet nodded understandingly.

“Okay.” He made his way around to Ghoul to ask him about Two-toned, who was still staring at him. Ghoul knew everyone, practically.

“Hey, you get to join the Bleach Blonde Bitch club now,” Ghoul said to him. Kobra elbowed him in the ribs.

“Fuck you.” He laughed. “Strange question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Who’s that?” Kobra pointed over at Two-toned. Ghoul looked between the two of them before laughing.

“That’s Vita. She’s a little interesting. And she’s fascinated with you, apparently.” He gave his friend a look. “Don’t take that the wrong way, she just probably wants something from you.”

“What do you mean, wants something from me?”

“Vita tends to pick out the people who she thinks can help her. She rescues kids from the Zones closest to Battery City, hoping to get them safe. She probably wants you.” Kobra looked back over at Two-toned--Vita. What did she see in him for rescuing kids? He was still a kid himself, barely seventeen. “Hey, don’t worry about it. And wait for her to come to you, give her some time. She might decide that she doesn’t want you, it’s not a big deal unless she asks.” Kobra nodded, having a weird feeling about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was long, that was kind of a nice change.  
> I'm still kind of working on other things, so this is getting updated less frequently, but since I actually have my ending, I will finish it and hopefully soon? I don't know yet.  
> Keep being awesome cool humans!


	6. Childhood Dreams

“What did you wanna be when you were a kid, Jet?” It was late as hell, and five of them were all lying on the diner floor (Cola was still over at the studio doing something). The question came from Party Poison, who was incredibly close to Ghoul, Kobra observed. Ghoul’s head was on his brother’s shoulder and their sides were pressed together. He shrugged it off, that was his brother’s business, not his. Actually, he wasn’t too surprised.

“As a kid? I don’t know at this point. I think I wanted to be like a medical professional or something. What about you?” Kobra knew the answer to that one.  
“I wanted to be a comic book artist. Then my mom told me that comic books were illegal to make now, so I kinda just moped around and hoped that they would become legal again pretty much.”

“I wanted to stay a kid forever,” Ghoul said, tucking his shoulder length hair behind his ear.

“Why does that not surprise me?”

“I don’t know, says nothing about my character at all. I guess I thought being an adult was boring.”

“Ah, but now you’re a kid with better toys,” Cola said, lying down in between Kobra and Show Pony. Kobra waved a greeting to him. It was returned.

“Mm, I guess you could say that mechanical things are toys. They are fun.”

“Cola? What did you want to be when you were a kid?” Jet asked.

“I think I wanted to be like a news reporter or something. No, that can’t be it. Whatever it was, I know it was weird.”

“I always wanted to deliver mail,” Show Pony said. That made them all laugh. “It’s true! I thought that was the coolest thing.”

“You’re weird,” Jet teased them.

“Mm, but that’s why I have you.” Ghoul made a gagging noise, and they were laughing again. “What about you, Kobra?” He shook his head.

“It’s really stupid.”

“Come on, it can’t be stupider than ‘a kid forever’.”

“Honestly, I don’t think I ever knew what you wanted to be,” Party said. There was more begging that followed, and Kobra broke.

“Okay! Okay. But you guys better not judge, ‘cause it’s gonna be the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard.” He paused, and they all were silent waiting for it. “I wanted to be a superhero.” There was a little space of silence.

“That’s not the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Well, it wasn’t like I wanted to be a real superhero with like, powers, or whatever. I wanted the reputation, the respect I guess. I mean, you look at comics with all the superheroes and they’ve done all these good things and they get all this respect from people. I wanted that, I wanted to do the good things and get the respect.” He felt embarrassed saying all of this. It had always been his little secret desire. He wasn’t even a kid anymore and that’s still what he wanted to do.

“That is surprisingly achievable, in this world at least,” Jet said. “There’s so much shit going on here, finding the good things to do is really easy.”

“But they aren’t easy to do.”

“True.”

“Is that why you start fights?” His brother asked.

“Well, _those_ people deserve it.”

“I honestly don’t think you could be a pacifist for a month.”

“Mm, no, probably not.” That made them laugh too. He looked over at Cola, who was smiling at him. But then when he noticed that he could see it, he immediately looked away. That flutter had wormed it’s way back into his chest.


	7. stars

Suddenly Kobra’s right side felt colder than it had. He opened his eyes sleepily and sat up. Cola was making his way to the door.

“Hey, where the hell are you going?” He asked quietly to not wake anyone else up. They had all fallen asleep shortly after the discussion about superheroes. Cola stopped and turned around.

“I’m going back to the studio.” Kobra blinked.

“Why?”

“Because I should. No one’s there right now and that’s probably not a smart plan.”

“Stay, please?” Cola looked down at his feet. Kobra couldn’t quite see through the dark, but he looked like he was blushing. The flutter was still in his chest, pushing up to his throat.

“I should go.” Cola turned back around and started walk when Kobra stood up and followed him to the door. He had one hand on the handle when Kobra spoke again.

“I’m coming with you then.” Cola looked over at him.

“Why?” He sounded really annoyed.

“Because being alone sucks, especially in the middle of the night.” Cola rolled his eyes and opened the door. Kobra was confused to why he was acting like this. He had never been hostile to Kobra at all, he was a very sweet guy. But then Kobra remembered that Show Pony had said that Cola tried to reject the idea that he had feelings. He followed him outside and looked up. The stars were brighter than ever, and even though Kobra had been out of Battery City for a while, they still amazed him. He breathed a quiet "holy shit".

“What?” Cola had stopped walking. He didn’t sound so pissed anymore.

“Look at them.” Cola threw his head back. “It’s so weird to grow up thinking that stars didn’t exist and then when you’re almost 17 realize that they do and they’re beautiful.”

“Yeah, I guess it would be.” The two of them fell silent, still staring at the sky. “You know, all of us out here in the desert, we think that we’re all powerful and that we can take down society, but we’re all full of shit. We aren’t any more powerful than the rest of the world. We’re just as human as everyone else. We hurt. We bleed. We fear. We love.” Kobra looked from the stars to Cola. He was still looking up, like he was trying to avoid something. That was when Kobra decided to possibly screw up his entire life right then and there.

Kobra had to admit, he’d done some spontaneous, possibly crazy things in his life. He’d jumped two stories out of his childhood best friend’s window. He’d cut off all his hair one day and demanded to go by a different name with different pronouns, being called a son instead of a daughter by a mother who would never accept that. That same day, after sunset, he’d run away with his brother from the only place they’d ever known. He’d started a fight with some guys who worked for BL/I, who could have killed him. But of all the spontaneous things he’d done, grabbing his best friend and pressing their mouths together was the most surprising and possibly dangerous. He could have just destroyed their friendship for good. But in that moment, chapped lips on chapped lips, hand on face, eyes shut, stars brighter than ever, it felt more right than wrong. It felt more good than bad. It felt...perfect. And it was all over in a second.  
Eyes reopened, breaths were shallow, hands slid down from face to shoulder to arm back to Kobra’s pocket. They looked each other in the eyes. It was like every cheesy movie come to life, only a little less heterosexual and a little sandier.

“Fuck it,” Cola said and pulled Kobra back to him by the collar of his jacket. He pressed his mouth back to Kobra’s. This time it was totally different. Open mouths moving together, bottom lips sucked on, noses pressed against each other, arms snaking around waists, it felt new. It felt _good_.

Their mouths broke apart and Kobra stared at Cola. He smiled and Cola bit his lip.

“I like you, maybe more than I realized,” Kobra said, practically whispering.

“I like you too.”

“Good. I was afraid for a second there that you didn’t. That would be a little embarrassing.” Cola hummed in agreement. Then he took a step back from Kobra and grabbed the other boy’s hand, dragging him towards the studio. “What are you doing?”

“Being alone sucks, especially in the middle of the night.” He laughed, following him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> awwwwhhhhhh, look at that they finally got together.  
> Keep being awesome cool humans!


End file.
